Foot-exercising device



March 26, 1946. c.-c. MOSHIER FOOT-EXERCISING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed Dec. 24, 1942 muwf W R 05 T 0 MM V0 m s &

A TTORNE Y5 March 26, 1946. g Q Q os 2,397,428

FOOT-EXERGISING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 24, '1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Ilium A TTORNEYS Patented Mar. 26, 1946 UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,397,428roor-cxcaolsmo DEVICE Charles C. Mshier,'Mau'd,";0hio

Original application December '24, 1942, Serial 470,001. Divided andthis application August 23, 1944, Serial No."550;7-63

'2 Claims.

subjecting thefront portion-ofthefoot to a' circular movement whileholding the rear-portion of the foot in fixedposition; exercising thejoints of'the feet, ligaments-muscles and fascia around the joints,assists in maintaining proper "blood circulation and helps to relievenerve pressure.

It-- is understood that the device herein described-is to be used only"in connection with the treatment of substantially normal feet and it isnot intended foruse in connection with seriously deformed feet'or feethaving other serious foot ailments which surgery alone can cure.

One 'ofthe objects of myinvention is to-provide a device for holding theheel of'the foot in'fixed position and at the same time impartingacircular'motion to the frontportion of'the foot thus flexing themiddleportion of the foot.

Another object of my inventionis to provide a devicewhich will soexercise the'muscles and joints of the foot that normal circulationofblood to the foot will "be restored.

Another object of 'my'invention is to provide a device which'will sotreat 'the foot that it will relievenerve'pressure caused by'the bones'of'the foot being out of normal position andthus pinching the nerves.

Another object 'of'my' invention is'to'provide afoot-exercising devicewhich can 'be adjusted so that ,the successive treatments -can be mademore intense as the exercising program proceeds.

Another'object of my inventionis "to provide a device which when used'to'treat the foot will strengthen the muscles and ligaments .of thefoot so that the bones will not'beso apt to-pull'out of place.

Another object of my invention is to provide a foot-exercising devicewhich requires 'no'further attention "on the part of the operator oncethe exerciser'has been adjusted and started.

Another object of my'invention is to provide a foot-exercising devicewhich can be adjusted to fit any size foot.

Another object of myinvention is toprovide a foot-exerciser which isinexpensive "to construct.

Various other objects will be apparent from the drawings, the followingdescription and the claims. a

The preferred embodiment of my invention is a foot-exercising deviceconstructed so that the heel of the footis held in "fixed position whilethetoes are manipulated in "a circular movement which will necessarilyflex themid-portion of the foot. The device is operated byan electricmotor -of thereversi'bletype andisadjustable so that the treatment canbe intensified or lessened depending "upon 'the patient being treated.The circular movement'impartedto the "toe members i will necessarilyimpart a slight'longitudinal actionbetween the" toes and the metatarsaljoint of the foot. A support member bears against the'middle arch and isreciprocated vertically 'by-means of the reversible electric motor. Thissupport exertsaverticalpressure on the middle ar'ch-o'f the'foot.

"This application is a 'division of co-pen'ding application-Serial N o.47 0,001, filedDecember' 24, 1942, which became Patent No. 2,376,000 andisuuedMayl5, 11945.

,Theypreferre'd embodiment of my invention is illustrated'in theaccompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designatecorresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1' is aside 'elevational view, partly broken away, showing afoot-exercising device constructed according to .my invention;

Fignre2isa top plan view, partly broken away, of the structure shown inFigure" 1.

Eigure' 3 isa detailedperspective view, partly broken away,ofithe'forward portion of thefootexercising .device.

Figure Us a vertical longitudinalsectional view shovvinga modified formof my device.

A "Figure-5 is atop plan view of the structure set out inFigure 4.

Figure'6 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken along lin e-$i'6of'Figure 4.

"Figure '7, isavertical sectional view taken along line 1+1 of ,Figure5.

"With referenceto the drawings, I provide a rectangular .housing memberhaving albottom portion .l;.side walls '2. anda forward end wall 3.Therearlendof'the housing, is left open. The side walls 'jZ Hareinclined downwardly and rearwardly from a pointinterrnediate their ends.Thefront ends vofrthe side walls/2 are connected to .the 'forwardendwall '3. The shape of the housing is best shown in Figures l'and3.

A 'top paneLportion l .is :connected to the end wall :3 by ,meansofahinge .5. The panel 4 is rigidly secured to vertical panel portion 6,,An electric motor I with a gear reducing unit 8 is bolted to themember.Gbymeans of thebolts 9. As can be seen, the member 6 is not attached tothe side wall 2 but merely Jfits tightly against the 'wall. The foot-exercising unit is supported atits front'end 'by'the' member 6 and atits rear end by 'the screw member H! which is carried by Vrear end of 'afloor portion l4.

universal joint 21.

injury to the toes gripped thereby.

screw, and bears against the floor portion M of the exercising unit..Thus, it will be seen that the height of the rear end of the exercisingunit can be varied by turning the hand nut 13 carried on the screw It.Since the front end of the unit I is pivotally held by the hinge member5, when the pin is removed from the hinge, the entire exercising unitcan be removed from the housing. I The exercising unit comprises threemain parts,

namely, the toe-clampingunit l5, the main arch manipulating unit it andthe heel-supporting unit ll. 'These units will be discussed indetail inthe above-indicated order.

The electric motor 1 is of the reversible type and has a gear reductionunit 8 formed integral therewith. As indicated above, the motor andfloor portion l4. On the upper end of the support is an arch support 16which is of relatively hard material so that when the foot is positionedthereon it will manipulate the main arch of the foot in the manner to bedescribed. On the sup-' port 44 between the bearing 43 and the archsupport I6 is a vertical bearing member 46. The bearing 45 has a collarportion 41 which bears against the plate 48 carried by the floor portionl4. The plate 48 surrounds the longitudinal slot 45 formed in the floorportion, The bearing 46 and the collar 41 prevent the weight of the footfrom being thrown on the threads of the bearing 43. The collar 4! rideson the plate 48 when the bearing 43 is reciprocated as willbesubsequently described.

A mercury switch 49 is mounted beneath the bearing 43. Cam points 4311carried by the bearing 43 engage the cam points 49a onthe ends of theswitch 49 and serve to actuate the motor I. The switch 49 is of theconventional type and will, therefore, not be discussed indetail.

It will be seen that when switch 49 is actuated the shaft 40 is rotatedin one direction and lon gear reduction unit are supported on the memher6 by means of the bolts 9,

Extending out of the gear reduction member 9 is a driven shaft member I3The shaft [8 has a worm l9 formed thereon adjacent member 8 and itsouter end has a sleeve 29 keyed thereon by means of the screw 2|. Formedintegral with the sleeve '20 is a crank arm 22 extending at right anglesto shaft l8. formed in the center thereof and running longitudinally ofthe arm. A screw 24 is adapted to passthrough said slot 23 and is heldin place by The arm 22 has a slot 23 means of a collar portion 25 and awingnut 26. The wing nut 26 holds the screw andcollar portion inadjusted position in the slot 23. 'Formed on theother end of the collarportion 25 is a The toe-clamping unit [5 comprises a pair of horizontalplates 28 and 29 which are carried by a pair of jaw members 30 and 3|.The jaw members 30 and 3! areicarried on the socket end of the universaljoint 27, y 7 32 to allow for positioning the toes between the lates 29and 29. A tightening screw 33 has wing nuts 34 associated therewith. Thetoe plates 28 The jaws are hinged at i and 29 have sponge rubber orother suitable ma- 1 at 37]. On the lower end of the shaft is a worm 39which cooperates with a gear39 carried by a horizontally disposed shaft49.. The'shaft 49 is supportedby bearing 4| at the forward end of thedevice and by bearing 42 at the rear.

The bearing inembers'are suitably bolted to the floor portion 14. Theshaft has a thre'adedportion 39 a disposed intermediate its ends. Thefloor portion I4 is attached at its forward end to the plate 6 and itsrear end is supported by the hand nut l3'on the screw it, as waspreviously "described. j

A screw threaded bearing 43 is mounted on the shaft ,49 andcooperateswith the threaded por-' tic'n. 43a. The bearing 43 has a verticalsupport member 44 formed on its upperside. Thesupport extends upwardlythrougha slot 45 formed in the which issuitably bolted to the electricmotor 1;

itudinal movement of member IE will occur. This motion will be reversedwhen themercury switch 49 is actuated again since the motor! willreverse the direction of rotation of the shaft 49. Thus, member 43 ismoved back and forth and at the extent of movement in each direction inthe bracket member 52. 'The bearing is normally held atxthe forwardend'of the rod member 5! by means of a spring 53, The heel support alsostraps 54 and 54a for holding the foot in position as shown in Figure1,. It will benoted that the heel support does not have 'anypositivemeans for moving the heel but that it holds the heel in fixed positionwhile the toe-clamping unit manipulates the foot in a manner to besubsequently described. H 7

It can be seen that the entire foot-exercising mechanism can be raisedor lowered by means of the hand nut I3 which is carried by the screw 10.All of the parts of the deviceare either sup-.

1, 2 and 3 will now be described. The foot is placed in proper positionon the foot-exerciser and secured by the toe plates .28 and29 and strapmembers 54a. The motor 1 is actuated,- and, through thegear reductionunit. 8, rotates the shaft member I8 and also rotates the parts.associated therewith. vThe toe-clamping unit .is revolved as a unitabout the axis of shaft-.13., .During' this movement the clampingplates, by means of the universal joint 25, will swing about pivot 32and rotate relative to member. 25, The plates 28 and 29gare heldin ahorizontal plane during the rotationdue to the action of the universaljoint. The motion on the toe members of the foot is circular and canbevaried in extent by adjusting the screw 24 in the slot 230:. the arm-22. It is preferable that when the treatments are firststartedtheadjustment be very near the center of rotationandthetreatmentcanjbeivaried in intensityrby-merely adjusting the screwin the slot 'from thecenter. position. I

-At'the same time the toe clamping unitus be- -ing-;revolved,theworm-member I9:carried on the shaft T8 "also rotates the worm gearI'Swcarried by the vertical shaft-'35 The motion -is transmitted throughtheshait 35 to the -worm;38-and then to the gear 39. Thegear 89 rotatesthe horirental-shaft member. in thebearing members '4 I 'and '42 whichsupport the shaft. The threaded bearing member 43 which engages the ithreaded portion'toa of the shaft 40 and which supports the verticalsupport member 44 of the arch- 'niariipulating unit I s-ri'des back andrel-th n the threaded pcrticnma. The direction of the bearing'm'ember'43 is 'changedby means of the mercuryswitchfla which reverses the motor"I whenever the member '43 reaches the extent of its movement in eitherdirection. This switch reverses the motor,"thus reversing the rotationof the shaft is and also'theh'orizontal shaft 46 as wella's'reversing'the circular 'motion of the-toe- The arch support l6 bearsunit'i's takingplace, The heel support is moved forwardly andbackwardly, due to the"slight longitudin'aYmove-ment of the foot causedby: the toecla'mpin-g unit'fiexing the toes downwardly during therevolving thereof.

In Figures 4.5, 6 and 7, I have illustrated a modification of myinvention. Referring particularly to Figure 4, it will be seen that themeans for'm'anipulatingthe toe-clamping unit la is of a differentstructure than shown in Figure 1. In the modification, I provide abearing a which is splined on the shaft 180.. The bearing 28a has acrank arm 55 which supports a bushin 56, as best shown in Figure 7. Atoe-clamping support 51 is provided instead of the universal joint asused in the preferred form of my invention. The support 51 has a crankpin 58 disposed on one end for engaging the bushing 56 and has a yokemember 59 formed on the other end. The member 51 has a collar portion 60for holding the crank pin 58 in place in the bushing 56. At the otherside of the bushing 56 a washer member 6| is held on a threaded reducedportion of the pin 58 by means of a nut 62. The pin 58 is loosely heldin bushing 56 so that it will be free to rotate in the bushing when thecrank arm 55 is rotated by the bearing 20a on the shaft [8a.

The yoke member 59 has a tongue member 64 in engagement therewith whichis held in place by a pivot pin 63 which passes through a center openingformed in the yoke member. The tongue member 64 supports thetoe-clamping unit [5a in the same manner as was described in connectionwith the preferred form of the invention.

It will be seen that when the shaft la. is rotated, the bearing 20a willrotate thus revolving the crank arm 55 in a circular path. Thetoeclamping unit l5a will remain in horizontal position but will be freeto pivot sideways on the pivot pin 63. The crank pin 58 will rotate inthe bushing 56 as the crank arm revolves. The bearing 20a is free toreciprocate on the splined shaft I80. to compensate for the flexingmotion imparted to the toes.

The motion exerted on the toes will still be circular due to the motionof the bearing member 20a. The same flexing movement will be imparted tothe forward end of the foot and will be fulcrumed by the arch-supportingmeans Mia.

1 "It will besseeni that 313118 supporting :means 16a alsodifiers-inwstructureufrom thezi'crmzshownain Figure *1. "Inithis formfIiprovide a m'eans for exerting =.a slight vertical ipressure againstthe middle. arch, bymeahs off-ai support r 16a, instead oftherlongitudinal exercising r-movement provided in the preferred form oftiter-invention. The support lGa is carried on a vertical-shaftmember 64which is supported by an upstanding U-shaped bracket member '65 asbestshow-n iniFigure :4.

' openin in the #floor l 4a permits a'bearingmem- .ber' 66. formedon'lthe lower 'en'cl 30f thebrackettfi to extend throughthe floor 1 4a.The'shaft fi' l extends through the-bearing 66 and is prongshaped-at itsvlOWer end. 'Aroller niembe'r 6|:is

- carried between the prong-shaped "lower end of the shaft 64-by meansof a: pin 6-8. The shaft has a collar portion 69 formed thereon'to actas a stop member within the U-shaped bracket member 65. The shaft'M-isnormally-held'downwardly by means ofaspring =10 disposed on :the shaftintermediate the bracket arms tandwhich holds -thexcollar 69 against thelower bracket arm 65.

Figure 1 The: shaft 4D :has, -:the :same :threaded portion 40a as shownin Figure l but the bearing member 4311 does not move the arch supportl6 as in the preferred form of my invention. The mercury switch ispivotally supported below the bearing 43a in a suitable manner. Aportion 43b engages the cam points carried by th mercury switch 49a. Thebearing 43a is carried by means of a key member 430 which rides in akeyway 43d which is suitably bolted to the floor portion 14a. As theshaft 40 is rotated, the bearing 43a moves in one direction until theportion 431) engages one of the cam points of the mercury switch 49a.which is then actuated.

This reverses the motor thus causing the shaft 40 and the bearing 43a tomove in the opposite direction.

In 'using my foot-exercising device, the forward end of the foot issubjected to a circular motion while the rear end of the foot is heldrelatively non-rotatable. This motion results in a flexing action fromthe arch of the foot to the toes. This circular motion is common to bothforms of my invention. In the preferred form illustrated in Figures 1, 2and 3 I provide a means for simultaneously imparting longitudinal motionto the arch-engaging member so as to apply longitudinal pressure on thearch of the foot. This movement as well as the circular movement on theforward end of the foot is reversedat regular intervals by means of thereversible motor.

In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 6 and'7, the same circular motion is imparted to the forward end of the footwhile a vertical pressure is exerted at intervals on the arch of thefoot. The rear portion of the foot is held relatively non-rotatable.This vertical pressure is slight and tends to exert a slightlongitudinal motion 0n the rear portion of the foot.

Thevertical pressure is exerted on the arch once during'every completerevolution of the forward end of the foot. As in-the preferredembodiment of my invention, the circular motion is reversed atintervals. These motions are necessary to assist in'restoring the footto the normal condition. l a

In the drawings and in particular in that part ofthe drawings whichillustrates the toe-manipulating means, it has been necessary toexaggerate the dimensions ofthe parts in order to properly present thesame. The proportions of the various units when compared to the foot mayin somecases be exaggerated. The motion imparted to the toes can bevaried from the slightest degree to a point where the force is ratherextreme but this motion will not be sufiicient to injure the foot. 7

From the above description, it will be apparent that I provide afoot-exercising device having a number of advantages. One of theprincipal advantages of my invention is that I provide a device whichwill exercise and strengthen the muscles and ligaments'of the human footin such a manner as to relieve nerve pressure, caused by the bonespinching the nerves between joints. The device imparts a circularflexing motion to the front of the foot from the metatarsal joint to'the tip of the toes which stimulates the flow of blood to the tissuesof the foot. It is possible with this device tovary the degree oftreatment in accordancewith the patients needs.

i Many other advantages will be apparent from the above description, thedrawings and the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: 7

' 1. A foot-exercising device comprising a toecIamping unit,a crank armfor supporting'said toe-clamping unit, a pivoted yoke member disposedbetween said crank arm and said toeclamping unit, a longitudinalarch-supporting unit, said arch-supporting unit comprising an archengaging member supported on a vertically movable rod, a roller membercarried on the lower end of said vertical rod, a cam member rotatablymounted and adapted to bear against said 7 roller member for moving saidrod vertically at intervals, a heel-supporting unit, a longitudinalrod'member adapted to carry the heel-supporting unit so as to permitlongitudinal movement only thereof, and means for simultaneouslyrotating said crank arm and said cam member.

2. A foot-exercising device comprising a toe clamping unit, a crank armfor supporting said toe-clamping unit, means disposed between said crankarm and said toe-clamping unit, means for rotating said crank arm, a1ongitudinal archsupporting unit, said arch-supportin unit comprising anarch-engaging member supported on a vertically movable rod, a rollermember carried on the lower member of said vertical rod,

